Action against bin Laden not yet finalised

By Toby Harnden in Washington

12:01AM BST 29 Sep 2001

THE American plan to attack Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'eda network has not been finalised and military action is likely to be held off because of logistical complications and attempts to woo more allies, according to senior sources in Washington.

"We're not there yet," said one highly-placed source, who revealed that the plan was still being drawn up by the United States Army's Central Command (CENTCOM) and had yet to be approved by the Pentagon and President Bush before being put to allies.

Suggesting there could be a delay before air strikes or special forces operations, the source said that better intelligence on bin Laden was needed and issues of which countries' bases and airspace to use had not yet been resolved.

"And then it's not just military, it's political. The plan needs to work diplomatically." But he emphasised that military action could begin even before the overall plan was finalised. Surprise would be a crucial element.

Although the comments could have been designed to deceive bin Laden and al-Qa'eda, a wide range of both military and diplomatic sources in Washington suggest that contrary to reports earlier this week a strike may not be imminent.

The source said that the Bush administration remains unclear about whether it wants to topple the Taliban regime and, if so, how to install a stable democratic entity in Afghanistan.

Mr Bush's advisers had moderated initial backing for the Northern Alliance because of objections from Pakistan and a realisation that the group had too narrow an ethnic make-up to command broad support. The White House was also examining whether divisions within the Taliban could be exploited.

The source said: "To some extent, there are good Taliban and bad Taliban." Mr Bush ruled out negotiations with the Taliban leaders last night and said the United States was in "hot pursuit" of bin Laden.

America had learnt from the Soviet experience in Afghanistan in the 1980s how hard it would be "to fight a guerrilla war with conventional forces", he said. "Make no mistake about it, we're in hot pursuit."

He added: "It's not just bin Laden that we expect to see brought to justice. It's everybody associated with his organisation . . . and not only those directly associated with bin Laden, but any terrorist that's housed and fed in Afghanistan needs to be handed over.

"And finally, we expect there to be complete destruction of terrorist camps. That's what I told them. That's what I mean."

An American official said that Britain's role was crucial militarily as well as diplomatically and when asked about special forces operations, acknowledged that "the British are better at this than us".

British and American officials have said they possess incontrovertible evidence that September 11 was an operation carried out by al-Qa'eda but have been unable to publicise this for fear of compromising intelligence sources.

The argument about Saddam Hussein has been "parked" for the time being. Gen Powell is strongly opposed to the suggestion by Paul Wolfowitz, the Pentagon deputy, that America should move against Iraq and his counsel has prevailed for the time being at least.

Condoleezza Rice, the foreign policy adviser who has the closest personal relationship with Mr Bush, is understood to have supported Gen Powell on the Iraq issue.

Britain has also been a key proponent of the Powellite point of view, with one official describing the Pentagon deputy as "the wild-eyed Wolfowitz".

Britain's position as America's principal ally has been cemented during the recent crisis, with the Government warmly praising the Bush administration's deliberative approach and decision not to rush into military action in the immediate aftermath of September 11.